Pegula and Gauff Advance in the Wuhan Open; Osaka Surprised
In a day full of emotions at the Wuhan Open, Jessica Pegula overcame a tough match and Coco Gauff demonstrated her dominance, while Naomi Osaka suffered an unexpected defeat. Pegula, seeded number six, defeated her compatriot Hailey Baptiste in a decisive tiebreak, securing her place in the third round with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6). Pegula needed seven match points to secure the victory. In the next stage, Pegula will face Ekaterina Alexandrova, ninth seed, who previously defeated Ann Li with a score of 7-6 (5), 6-2. On the other hand, Coco Gauff, seeded number three, continued her advance with a resounding victory over Moyuka Uchijima, with a score of 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes. The surprise of the day was delivered by Linda Noskova, who eliminated Naomi Osaka, the eleventh seed, with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-3. The young Czech tennis player, 20 years old, comes from being runner-up at the China Open. Noskova will face Jaqueline Cristian or Elena Rybakina in the next round. Liudmila Samsonova, seeded number 16, managed a comeback to defeat Sofia Kenin, champion of the 2020 Australian Open, with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. In addition, Kateřina Siniaková, coming from the qualifying phase, defeated Maya Joint with a result of 6-3, 6-1. In the third round, Samsonova will face Aryna Sabalenka, US Open champion, who defeated Rebecca Sramkova with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Sabalenka, the world number one, has had an outstanding performance in Wuhan, with an impressive record of 18-0, including titles in 2018, 2019, and 2024.Sabalenka secured the victory in almost two hours, after breaking her opponent’s serve in the first game of the final set. Karolina Muchova was forced to retire from her match due to the heat and humidity, when she was losing 7-6 (1), 4-1 against Magdalena Frech.I knew that after that little break… it wouldn’t be so easy to get my rhythm back. I’m very happy that in the second set I found my game and got into it, and I think I played very well. I’m very happy to be back. I’ve won many tournaments in China. It feels like home in this stadium, and I really hope I can go all the way.
Aryna Sabalenka